I didn’t get a January 2018 newsletter out, so the very first item for this newsletter is a big thank you to the following individuals who contributed to the maintenance teams Christmas lunch back in December. Your donation of food or funding really was appreciated. Thanks go out to Tony Day, Scott Ellington, Rick & Karen Hoen, Jim Mork, Joe Smith, Jim & Jane Tomlinson, Judy Willoughby, and Charlie & Peggy Wolff!!

January 2018 has a great ring to it correct? The year has started out well, we’ve had great weather all December, and most of January. For the few days that we’ve experienced frost delays, the impact has been fairly minimal and we are hoping that our frost delays will soon be a thing of the past.

Our fertilizers and chemicals started arriving last week, so expect to see a good amount of spraying in the roughs to inhibit and kill broadleaf plants, with fertilizer being applied on the tee’s, fairways and greens. With all the efforts being expended by the maintenance teams, we’re still seeing a huge amount of ball marks that are not being repaired on the greens and divots not being filled in. I’d encourage that all members and public players help us by fixing divots and ball marks. This is a critical component in keeping our tee boxes, fairways and greens healthy.

Just a quick stroll down memory lane – in December 2016 we experienced the fire at Canoa Ranch and the entire clubhouse was unavailable – what an amazing difference from last year to this year. Having the clubhouse back with a brand new kitchen, the golf shop with a good merchandise selection, the dining room with an updated look, and the remodeled banquet room are all supporting a huge increase in activity over last year. Activity at Torres Blancas has also been great through January, and we just finished hosting a member/guest golf tournament with wine-tasting and hors’devours after golf. The event was well attended, and we’ll repeat this event again. Rhonda Kochevar, Tony Kochevar, Amy Carmien and Jeff Carmien won 1st Place in the 1st Flight with a 62. Velma Whittier, Dave Whittier, Robin Ashe and Brian Ashe won 1st Place in the 2nd Flight ( scorecard playoff) with a 70.

In December I shared that we had experienced multiple issues of sabotage and intentional destruction within the on-course bathrooms at Torres Blancas, including opening water valves to flood the bathroom interiors, flushing excessive paper products & hand towels to purposely clog the plumbing – all with resulting unavailability of the restrooms to our customers in addition to expensive repairs to correct some of the problems. The Pima County Sheriff’s office has been involved, and we’ll continue reporting vandalism to them, and filing a criminal complaint if we determine who is responsible. We’ve had a couple additional issues since December, so please continue to help us by reporting any suspicious activity near the on-course restrooms.

Upcoming member events to note on your calendars, with detailed information to be sent out, so please save the dates: